By Land and By Sea: Cruisetours Offer the Best of Each

A cruise is a wonderful way to introduce yourself to a new destination: port cities are often historic and vibrant centers of culture and commerce, ensuring a lively on-shore experience. However, they can also be gateways to interesting places and lovely sights that lie inland. It’s possible to enjoy both the ports and what lies beyond them when you take a cruisetour.

A cruisetour combines a cruise with a multi-night land tour that goes further than a shore excursion can. Cruisetours combine the ease of a cruise with the opportunity to more fully immerse yourself in the culture of the place you’re visiting.

For example, Australia is just emerging as a cruisetour destination. In addition to exploring the welcoming port cities of Australia – such as Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane – you can venture into the famous Australian Outback. There, you can see exotic wildlife (think kangaroos, dingoes and blue-tongued lizards); experience the majestic beauty of Uluru (Ayers Rock), the Olgas and Kings Canyon; and learn about Aboriginal heritage and culture at Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory.

Alaska is an established and popular destination for cruisetours; like Australia, it has a vast and beautiful interior. For example, a tour of Denali National Park is a perfect complement to a cruise of historic port towns like Ketchikan, Skagway and Sitka. In addition to majestic Mt. McKinley, Denali features grizzly bears, caribou, Dall sheep, lynx and other wildlife. Other cruisetour destinations in Alaska’s interior include Talkeetna, a historic village at the base of Mt. McKinley that offers great fishing and float trips; lodges along the Iditarod trail; and mountainous Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. Or, cross the Canadian border to explore the gold fields of the Yukon.

Europe offers a terrific variety of cruisetour possibilities: port cities provide a taste of local culture, but a cruisetour will let you take a bigger bite. For example, a cruise of the British Isles can be enhanced by a land tour of the Ring of Kerry, a wonderfully scenic route through southwestern Ireland’s County Kerry. An Italian cruisetour can take you to ports like Genoa, Naples and Venice without missing the inland wonders of Milan and Florence. Before or after you sail on a ship that home ports in Barcelona, you could explore inland cities stretching from Madrid, Spain, to Avignon, France.

To find out more about the many options for memorable cruisetours, talk with your Cruise Holidays personal cruise expert.